Every year the AMC sponsors Mountain Leadership School to encourage members to get more involved with the club and to become more equipped leaders. Also, every year , the Maine Chapter sponsors some of it's members to participate in the school. This year three of the Maine Chapter members, Gail Lawley, Erick Hagmann and Ginny Smith attended. The following is an account of their experiences.

Gail Lawley

At the end of June I had the privilege of attending the AMC Mountain Leadership School in Pinkham Notch, NH. I was part of a group of eight participants and two facilitators who spent three nights in the huts of the Presidential Mountains of New Hampshire.

During the day we hiked from hut to hut as we experienced the role of leader, co-leader and participate. The view from all three vantage points was educational. On our first day out, just as we were about to summit our first mountain, Mt. Clinton, we were hit by a thunder storm and immediately had to put into action our knowledge of what to do in the case of a thunder storm.

As the days progressed we learned map and compass skills, experienced a major accident which was staged to see how well we could react to an emergency in the wild, discussed hypothermia and experienced spending many hours with the same people in somewhat close quarters.

Spending much time debriefing after each "change in shift" of leaders , we discovered a lot about ourselves as individuals and how groups interact. It is my belief that this is a very beneficial course for anyone, whether they aspire to lead hikes or just enjoy the outdoors as a member of a group hike.

I would like to thank the Outings Committee of the Maine Chapter for sponsoring and encouraging me to attend the school.

Erick Hagmann

I want to thank the Maine Chapter for giving me this opportunity and for the generous support. The school was very worthwhile and a good lesson in practical mountain leadership.

Wednesday, June 23rd:

In the morning we registered at Pinkham Notch and listened to discussions on leadership, accident scene management, and trip planning. I was in a Woods/Hut group of 8 (Phil, Rick, Jim, David, Cathy, Kathy, Eric, and Erick), and we had two facilitators - Mike and Amanda. We completed a team-building exercise called Pint of Blood, and a decision-making exercise called The Fishing Game (our group was the only one that scored lower after group consensus). In the evening , we distributed the group equipment and planned the first day of our trip. Our group was noteworthy in that dividing the heavy equipment went smoothly, since everyone was more than willing to carry their share.

Thursday, June 24th:

Our goal for the first day was to reach Hermit Lake Shelters, at the base of Tuckerman's Ravine. We had a leisurely walk with many breaks. It definitely seemed odd, because it is only a 3 hour trip and we arrived about 11:00 a.m. What would we do the rest of the day? We found out after lunch, when we were given two options - (a) hike back down to the Great Gulf or (b) depart the next morning at 3:00 AM for sunrise on the summit of Mt. Washington! Most of our group wanted to do Washington, but se spent almost two hours trying to reach consensus. One person was dead set against it. Then the thunderstorm hit, and then we really did not want to go down either. We discussed our options some more, and it became clear that there was a real problem with that one person. He didn't want either option (a) or (b), but a third option.

Finally, he was asked to leave the program. What an emotional wringer we all went through. The 3:00 AM departure for the summit of Mt. Washington became the challenge for our group. At 9:00 PM the remaining 7 group members got settled down for the night, not knowing what the morning would bring.

Friday, June 25th:

We were all up very early. We used head lamps for awhile, but soon there was enough light. There was still a treacherous patch of snow at the base of the headwall. At a steep, narrow section I was asked to role play that I was afraid to cross. The leader at the time was convinced this was real. However, he did a good job helping me over. Eventually we reached the summit. It was a perfect day, made even better by the complete lack of people so early in the morning since the train and road had not yet opened.

Our goal for the day was to reach the Perch, a campsite on the North slope of Mt. Adams. On the trail, somewhere near Mt. Jefferson, I managed to tear my calf muscle. I have stepped on millions of rocks, but I guess it was my time. Fortunately, I was able to continue. Our group was great in that everyone helped out to lighten my load and I was able to borrow a hiking pole. As long as I kept moving, my leg seemed okay.

Going down the trail to the Perch, everyone was getting a bit testy. Were we on the right trail? And why did it keep going down? It seemed much longer than 1.1 mile. Finally, relief, we made it. We got to the Perch in mid-afternoon, and none too early. There are only four tent platforms, and many other people were turned away after we got settled in. Just as we were getting the tents up, it started to rain. Great timing! All the snorers slept in one tent (it was nice to have company). At the beginning of the trip, I bet Amanda that I would never use my fleece jacket, but I lost the bet, as the combination of wet and cold forced me to pull it out that evening. It is nice to have warm clothes even in the summer.

Saturday, June 26th:

After breakfast, we were almost ready to leave, when we were presented with a disastrous accident scenario. A hiker with a bloody chest wound. He was dying fast,, and we were not organized. We learned a lot that morning. I think we did everything wrong. Mostly, we had no idea what resources we had. No one had looked at our First Aid kit and it was even difficult finding who was carrying what.

Toward Madison Hut, where we were to spend our last night out, we had a lost hiker role play. It was not too difficult finding someone above treeline. We met many groups hiking that day. We got to Madison and settled in. What luxury! Each group put on a skit, and they were hilarious.

Sunday, June 27th:

At breakfast the Hut Crew was entertaining. I was assigned to be the morning leader. It was a learning experience. My major challenge was Time Management. We had to be out of the hut promptly after breakfast, and hike down without many breaks in order to meet the 10:30 pickup time at Appalachia. Mike gave me many good ideas on how to make the deadline. We arrived at 10:29. Success!

Conclusion

The major things I learned from the school were some of the soft skills of leadership. How to manage the group and the time, so that goals are realized. How to evaluate individuals and help them benefit the whole. How to pace a group. How to be sure everyone is drinking water and eating properly.  

From experience we found that there were two major reasons for early and timely departures. First, thunderstorms come in the early afternoon. Second, campsites fill quickly. Better to be early, than sorry. Our group also experienced real dissension early on, and a genuine injury where the group had to pull together.

Finally, Mike taught me to enjoy the mountains and the group experience even more. One pointer was to stop the group just short of a hut or trailhead, because once there, the group's attention is drawn away from the leader. Our group was really clicking as a team near the end of the trip. We had reached the group stage of adulthood. Now we were moving and having fun. We all became friends and hope to keep in touch.

Ginny Smith

IN 25 WORDS OR LESS TELL US ABOUT YOUR MLS EXPERIENCE

This can't be done. To do this program justice you need to experience it. I was with a woods/hut group of diverse hiking and backpacking experiences. First of all I never thought I could be put in a group of 8 (10 including facilitators) and to get to know them as fast as I did there. No time was wasted. From day one we planned, prioritized, compromised, evaluated, assisted, reevaluated, intervened, reprioritized, cooked, cleaned, slept together, got up during the night together (for various reasons (some got up to hike, some got up because nature called)), encouraged each other, praised, kidded, shared tales, fears together and realized just how much we could take after we didn't think we could take much more (patience, fatigue, etc.). But this is an important piece to being a good leader.

Two events that stand out in my mind other than the knowledge I gained were - hiking up to the summit of Madison from the hut in the dark and experiencing the indescribable beauty of the sunset on one side of me and the full moon on the other as we watched the fireworks at the Auto road parking lot. (I have never been higher than the fireworks before). There isn't a camera around that can capture that. The second event was the skit. I have to boast a bit here - the two woods/hut group facilitators bet on which group would have the best skit - our group won the prize, which was better than any trophy - another group had to carry our 2 four man tents (and poles) down to the van on the last day. That sure lightened our packs.

Prioritizing is one of the most important goals I learned. As a leader I can see no matter what the activity is, you must be able to decide what is important at that time and circumstance. Secondly, the order of importance can change at any time.

My thanks to the Maine Chapter for encouraging me to further my leadership skills by attending MLS.

Final Note:

As you can see, all three members, although having different experiences, all enjoyed their time at the school and feel they learned new skills. We hope that other members of the Maine Chapter will be encouraged to apply to attend the AMC Mountain Leadership School.